A 27-year-old man has been killed by a piece of falling masonry while drinking outside an award-winning south London restaurant.

The incident happened at the Le Bouchon Bordelais, Battersea Rise, on Wednesday evening. The man, named as Peter Westropp, is believed to live locally with four friends. Part of a stone column broke away from the front wall of the restaurant and crashed through an awning on to him.

Paul Croxton, a graphic designer who was sitting at the next table with his girlfriend, Lily Lanskaya, told the Evening Standard: "It was a very quiet post-riot evening and everyone was trying to get back to normality.

"The first we knew of it was an almighty thud, noise and felt the debris on our backs. I turned around and I thought the guy must have fallen from the roof as he was still leaning backwards."

A resident Henry Fovargue told the newspaper: "It could have been any one of us."

The restaurant was cordoned off with the awning still partially collapsed over the seating area while the building was examined. It is thought structural damage may have been caused after a car crashed into the building recently.

Le Bouchon Bordelais won three Harpers Excellence Awards in the UK this year, according to the restaurant's website. It was named the best French wine establishment, best overall establishment and best Champagne establishment.

A Met police spokesman said: "The victim was pronounced dead at the scene."